Mother Starts Clothing Line To Make Dressing Easier For Children With Autism

FOX CT's Sarah Cody chats with a mother who has created a clothing line for children with autism.

FOX CT's Sarah Cody chats with a mother who has created a clothing line for children with autism.

SARAH CODYSpecial To The Courant

Independence Day Clothing is a collection of reversible shirts and pants with no difference between the front

Lauren Thierry worked for CNN, reporting on financial news. Then, her 2-year-old son, Liam, was diagnosed with autism. "I was doing a lot of those furtive phone calls in the office to doctors, occupational therapists, physical therapists," she says, explaining something had to give. "Like many moms, you end up having to make a choice and my choice was, 'Liam needs my help and he needs it now.'" Thierry traded a newsroom for the playground: "It took us seven years to teach him how to swing…he has taught me patience." Fast forward 15 years and this Madison mom continues to operate with Liam's needs in the forefront. She has created a line of clothing for children with the developmental disability.

"We went to a Mets baseball game and Liam had to go into the men's room alone. He was twelve. He came out of the men's room with his pants around his thighs," she says, recalling the shrieking, laughing and judgments she heard, as she tried to help her son, who has difficulty working buttons and zippers. "That was the tipping point…when I said, 'There has to be a better way.'" This mom of three formed a focus group and learned that "getting dressed time" is difficult for many parents of children with autism. "The buses that we've missed, the times we've put our kids on the bus in pajamas because we simply couldn't get to do it on time," she says.

The result: Independence Day Clothing, a collection of reversible shirts and pants with no difference between the front or back. The clothes, made of soft fabric, have no buttons, zippers or tags, often "sensory triggers" for those with autism. "Forty-eight percent of (the autism population) is at risk of wandering, everyday," says Thierry, pointing out a hidden compartment in each garment which discreetly holds a GPS device, causing no skin irritation that sometimes results from wearing an anklet, wristband or pendant. The designs are hip and fashionable. "If you mistake them for regular clothes, I've done my job," says Thierry.

Many children with autism can learn to get themselves dressed but, for those who struggle, this clothing can help build self-confidence, even at school. "The mood that they're in, they way they perceive their day starts at home and to be successful at home is to come in a more successful student," explains retired teacher Barbara Hanley of Madison. Thierry hopes the concept grows to serve people with Alzheimer's, cerebral palsy or MS: "It's independence not only for the wearer, it's independence for mom, the caregiver. It's independence for everybody."